0

I just completed a ong, drawn-out job interview process with Cogent IT that took up weeks up of my time and produced around 70 emails in my inbox (including ones I wrote). I did multiple rounds of screening and performed well on programming questions. Ultimately, I got "ghosted"...told I would be notified of the results of the process by this past Friday, and then not responded to again. I sent an email asking for a response by 5 p.m. today, and was again ignored. Also, the interviewing team often demanded lots of my time to schedule impromptu phone calls. In general, this firm was not respectful of my time at all, and the whole job interview process seemed like a big fake.

On 6/9/2021 5:22 PM, DV wrote:
> 0
>
> I just completed a ong, drawn-out job interview process with Cogent IT that took up weeks up of my time and produced around 70 emails in my inbox (including ones I wrote). I did multiple rounds of screening and performed well on programming questions. Ultimately, I got "ghosted"...told I would be notified of the results of the process by this past Friday, and then not responded to again. I sent an email asking for a response by 5 p.m. today, and was again ignored. Also, the interviewing team often demanded lots of my time to schedule impromptu phone calls. In general, this firm was not respectful of my time at all, and the whole job interview process seemed like a big fake.
>

It sounds like it went reasonably well in that they invested quite a bit
of their time on you. I would take this as encouragement.

--
Copyright 2021 Pete Olcott

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
minds." Einstein

On Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 6:31:45 PM UTC-4, olcott wrote:
> On 6/9/2021 5:22 PM, DV wrote:
> > 0
> >
> > I just completed a ong, drawn-out job interview process with Cogent IT that took up weeks up of my time and produced around 70 emails in my inbox (including ones I wrote). I did multiple rounds of screening and performed well on programming questions. Ultimately, I got "ghosted"...told I would be notified of the results of the process by this past Friday, and then not responded to again. I sent an email asking for a response by 5 p.m. today, and was again ignored. Also, the interviewing team often demanded lots of my time to schedule impromptu phone calls. In general, this firm was not respectful of my time at all, and the whole job interview process seemed like a big fake.
> >
> It sounds like it went reasonably well in that they invested quite a bit
> of their time on you. I would take this as encouragement.
>
>
> --
> Copyright 2021 Pete Olcott
>
> "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
> minds." Einstein

Why would you say that they invested their time in me, when I performed well on every part of the interview process except for a silly "analytical test" that did not offer enough time to answer a lot of questions that had nothing to do with computer programming (it seemed like a silly fake IQ test)? I don't see an appropriate ROI.

If these interviewers, who said I was being considered for a 8-week Java education bootcamp followed by a 1-year contract with one of their corporate partners (they would get a cut of my salary), had been serious, they would have allowed me to do the 8-week bootcamp, which I was willing to at least start. I am much better at coding, especially in C++, than people with no coding experience. I believe this organization was claiming to work with such people, and get them jobs in computer programming. As I noted, it now seems like it was a fake.

On 6/9/2021 5:47 PM, DV wrote:
> On Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 6:31:45 PM UTC-4, olcott wrote:
>> On 6/9/2021 5:22 PM, DV wrote:
>>> 0
>>>
>>> I just completed a ong, drawn-out job interview process with Cogent IT that took up weeks up of my time and produced around 70 emails in my inbox (including ones I wrote). I did multiple rounds of screening and performed well on programming questions. Ultimately, I got "ghosted"...told I would be notified of the results of the process by this past Friday, and then not responded to again. I sent an email asking for a response by 5 p.m. today, and was again ignored. Also, the interviewing team often demanded lots of my time to schedule impromptu phone calls. In general, this firm was not respectful of my time at all, and the whole job interview process seemed like a big fake.
>>>
>> It sounds like it went reasonably well in that they invested quite a bit
>> of their time on you. I would take this as encouragement.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Copyright 2021 Pete Olcott
>>
>> "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
>> minds." Einstein
>
> Why would you say that they invested their time in me, when I performed well on every part of the interview process except for a silly "analytical test" that did not offer enough time to answer a lot of questions that had nothing to do with computer programming (it seemed like a silly fake IQ test)? I don't see an appropriate ROI.
>

I failed that same test myself and yet was #1 in a senior level computer
science class with 45 students 3 of them being instructors of other
classes that eventually got their PhD in computer science.

> If these interviewers, who said I was being considered for a 8-week Java education bootcamp followed by a 1-year contract with one of their corporate partners (they would get a cut of my salary), had been serious, they would have allowed me to do the 8-week bootcamp, which I was willing to at least start. I am much better at coding, especially in C++, than people with no coding experience. I believe this organization was claiming to work with such people, and get them jobs in computer programming. As I noted, it now seems like it was a fake.
>

Some companies do not realize that those tests are invalid.

--
Copyright 2021 Pete Olcott

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
minds." Einstein

On Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 6:54:55 PM UTC-4, olcott wrote:
> On 6/9/2021 5:47 PM, DV wrote:
> > On Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 6:31:45 PM UTC-4, olcott wrote:
> >> On 6/9/2021 5:22 PM, DV wrote:
> >>> 0
> >>>
> >>> I just completed a ong, drawn-out job interview process with Cogent IT that took up weeks up of my time and produced around 70 emails in my inbox (including ones I wrote). I did multiple rounds of screening and performed well on programming questions. Ultimately, I got "ghosted"...told I would be notified of the results of the process by this past Friday, and then not responded to again. I sent an email asking for a response by 5 p.m. today, and was again ignored. Also, the interviewing team often demanded lots of my time to schedule impromptu phone calls. In general, this firm was not respectful of my time at all, and the whole job interview process seemed like a big fake.
> >>>
> >> It sounds like it went reasonably well in that they invested quite a bit
> >> of their time on you. I would take this as encouragement.
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Copyright 2021 Pete Olcott
> >>
> >> "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
> >> minds." Einstein
> >
> > Why would you say that they invested their time in me, when I performed well on every part of the interview process except for a silly "analytical test" that did not offer enough time to answer a lot of questions that had nothing to do with computer programming (it seemed like a silly fake IQ test)? I don't see an appropriate ROI.
> >
> I failed that same test myself and yet was #1 in a senior level computer
> science class with 45 students 3 of them being instructors of other
> classes that eventually got their PhD in computer science.
> > If these interviewers, who said I was being considered for a 8-week Java education bootcamp followed by a 1-year contract with one of their corporate partners (they would get a cut of my salary), had been serious, they would have allowed me to do the 8-week bootcamp, which I was willing to at least start. I am much better at coding, especially in C++, than people with no coding experience. I believe this organization was claiming to work with such people, and get them jobs in computer programming. As I noted, it now seems like it was a fake.
> >
> Some companies do not realize that those tests are invalid.
> --
> Copyright 2021 Pete Olcott
>
> "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
> minds." Einstein

Actually, I think it was their own proprietary test on their website. It was called the "Analytical Reasoning Assessment."

On 6/9/2021 5:58 PM, DV wrote:
> On Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 6:54:55 PM UTC-4, olcott wrote:
>> On 6/9/2021 5:47 PM, DV wrote:
>>> On Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 6:31:45 PM UTC-4, olcott wrote:
>>>> On 6/9/2021 5:22 PM, DV wrote:
>>>>> 0
>>>>>
>>>>> I just completed a ong, drawn-out job interview process with Cogent IT that took up weeks up of my time and produced around 70 emails in my inbox (including ones I wrote). I did multiple rounds of screening and performed well on programming questions. Ultimately, I got "ghosted"...told I would be notified of the results of the process by this past Friday, and then not responded to again. I sent an email asking for a response by 5 p.m. today, and was again ignored. Also, the interviewing team often demanded lots of my time to schedule impromptu phone calls. In general, this firm was not respectful of my time at all, and the whole job interview process seemed like a big fake.
>>>>>
>>>> It sounds like it went reasonably well in that they invested quite a bit
>>>> of their time on you. I would take this as encouragement.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Copyright 2021 Pete Olcott
>>>>
>>>> "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
>>>> minds." Einstein
>>>
>>> Why would you say that they invested their time in me, when I performed well on every part of the interview process except for a silly "analytical test" that did not offer enough time to answer a lot of questions that had nothing to do with computer programming (it seemed like a silly fake IQ test)? I don't see an appropriate ROI.
>>>
>> I failed that same test myself and yet was #1 in a senior level computer
>> science class with 45 students 3 of them being instructors of other
>> classes that eventually got their PhD in computer science.
>>> If these interviewers, who said I was being considered for a 8-week Java education bootcamp followed by a 1-year contract with one of their corporate partners (they would get a cut of my salary), had been serious, they would have allowed me to do the 8-week bootcamp, which I was willing to at least start. I am much better at coding, especially in C++, than people with no coding experience. I believe this organization was claiming to work with such people, and get them jobs in computer programming. As I noted, it now seems like it was a fake.
>>>
>> Some companies do not realize that those tests are invalid.
>> --
>> Copyright 2021 Pete Olcott
>>
>> "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
>> minds." Einstein
>
> Actually, I think it was their own proprietary test on their website. It was called the "Analytical Reasoning Assessment."
>

As far as I can recall the one that I took back in the early 1980's has
IBM's name on it. I still remember that it had patterns of symbols and
asked me what comes next.

With my BSBA degree I was taught that tests like these can be forced to
be discarded if they don't have "content validity". That means that the
fact that it did not have actual computer science programs makes them
invalid.

Content Validity
Content validity measures how well the subject matter of a test relates
to the capabilities and skills required by a certain job. Establishing a
test's content validity involves demonstrating that test items reflect
the knowledge or skills required for a particular position. Ensuring
that a pre-employment test has content validity is necessary for
affirming that the test follows the rule of job-relatedness.

https://www.criteriacorp.com/resources/definitive-guide-validity-of-preemployment-tests/validity-pre-employment-tests

The best applicant test that I ever took (and aced) was provided by the
federal government. In this test applicants were taught an actual
computer programming language. The applicant had to write computer
programs in this simple language.

--
Copyright 2021 Pete Olcott

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
minds." Einstein

On Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 8:22:57 PM UTC-4, olcott wrote:
> On 6/9/2021 5:58 PM, DV wrote:
> > On Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 6:54:55 PM UTC-4, olcott wrote:
> >> On 6/9/2021 5:47 PM, DV wrote:
> >>> On Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 6:31:45 PM UTC-4, olcott wrote:
> >>>> On 6/9/2021 5:22 PM, DV wrote:
> >>>>> 0
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I just completed a ong, drawn-out job interview process with Cogent IT that took up weeks up of my time and produced around 70 emails in my inbox (including ones I wrote). I did multiple rounds of screening and performed well on programming questions. Ultimately, I got "ghosted"...told I would be notified of the results of the process by this past Friday, and then not responded to again. I sent an email asking for a response by 5 p.m. today, and was again ignored. Also, the interviewing team often demanded lots of my time to schedule impromptu phone calls. In general, this firm was not respectful of my time at all, and the whole job interview process seemed like a big fake.
> >>>>>
> >>>> It sounds like it went reasonably well in that they invested quite a bit
> >>>> of their time on you. I would take this as encouragement.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> Copyright 2021 Pete Olcott
> >>>>
> >>>> "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
> >>>> minds." Einstein
> >>>
> >>> Why would you say that they invested their time in me, when I performed well on every part of the interview process except for a silly "analytical test" that did not offer enough time to answer a lot of questions that had nothing to do with computer programming (it seemed like a silly fake IQ test)? I don't see an appropriate ROI.
> >>>
> >> I failed that same test myself and yet was #1 in a senior level computer
> >> science class with 45 students 3 of them being instructors of other
> >> classes that eventually got their PhD in computer science.
> >>> If these interviewers, who said I was being considered for a 8-week Java education bootcamp followed by a 1-year contract with one of their corporate partners (they would get a cut of my salary), had been serious, they would have allowed me to do the 8-week bootcamp, which I was willing to at least start. I am much better at coding, especially in C++, than people with no coding experience. I believe this organization was claiming to work with such people, and get them jobs in computer programming. As I noted, it now seems like it was a fake.
> >>>
> >> Some companies do not realize that those tests are invalid.
> >> --
> >> Copyright 2021 Pete Olcott
> >>
> >> "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
> >> minds." Einstein
> >
> > Actually, I think it was their own proprietary test on their website. It was called the "Analytical Reasoning Assessment."
> >
> As far as I can recall the one that I took back in the early 1980's has
> IBM's name on it. I still remember that it had patterns of symbols and
> asked me what comes next.
>
> With my BSBA degree I was taught that tests like these can be forced to
> be discarded if they don't have "content validity". That means that the
> fact that it did not have actual computer science programs makes them
> invalid.
>
> Content Validity
> Content validity measures how well the subject matter of a test relates
> to the capabilities and skills required by a certain job. Establishing a
> test's content validity involves demonstrating that test items reflect
> the knowledge or skills required for a particular position. Ensuring
> that a pre-employment test has content validity is necessary for
> affirming that the test follows the rule of job-relatedness.
>
> https://www.criteriacorp.com/resources/definitive-guide-validity-of-preemployment-tests/validity-pre-employment-tests
>
>
> The best applicant test that I ever took (and aced) was provided by the
> federal government. In this test applicants were taught an actual
> computer programming language. The applicant had to write computer
> programs in this simple language.
> --
> Copyright 2021 Pete Olcott
>
> "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
> minds." Einstein

Yeah I think math/CS-related job application tests are much better for computer programming jobs than stupid "spot the pattern" question tests.